“You Can Fix It Later”

This is one of the phrases that rings in my head all the time these days. Just get writing. All first drafts are crap, so just get it down in words. You can fix it later. Now that it feels like I finally can manage my time to make writing the top priority, I’m working … Continue reading “You Can Fix It Later”

Lost on the Green Train

Confusion on the Circumvesuviana After Rome we headed south by train to beautiful and charming Sorrento, where we had some great food and wine, stayed in a wonderful small hotel down a tiny cobblestoned alley, took day trips to Pompei and Herculeum, and where I had another interesting train experience. From Sorrento, I took an … Continue reading Lost on the Green Train

Cypress Street Secrets

My novel is coming along at what feels like a snail's pace, but it's exciting to see it develop. Ya know how your best friend in the whole world can sometimes aggravate the hell out of you? How you may want to grab her and just shake some sense into her head? Sometimes I get … Continue reading Cypress Street Secrets

Brown Women Have Everything, by Sayantani Dasgupta

Since attending the book launch for Sayantani Dasgupta's ‘Brown Women Have Everything,’ (her third book) last week, I finally found time to sit down and read it. I couldn't put it down. I am struck by how much we have in common, this woman who grew up in New Delhi and I, who grew up … Continue reading Brown Women Have Everything, by Sayantani Dasgupta

River Stories

It's been a while! Nine months ago, I thought I was ready to start submitting 'River Stories' to agents. Then life happened. And death. Meanwhile I've finally been able to put some final touches on the manuscript. I feel like it's a very solid story and this week I have actually been submitting queries - … Continue reading River Stories

I Never Win Anything – or Do I?

As soon as I read about this gutsy girl in the upcoming middle grade debut novel 'Air,' I knew I had to read it. Since I came across it as part of a contest to win a copy on this blog, I figured it was worth a shot, although I knew I'd never win. I … Continue reading I Never Win Anything – or Do I?

River Stories

There were snakes in that river. That’s why we were never to go there alone. I never saw a snake, but I knew they were there. My mom said so. We had just moved here in June. We would have moved earlier but Mom said we had to wait for the end of the school … Continue reading River Stories

The Val Wood Prize

I've received notice that I am on the short-list for this year's prestigious Val Wood Prize for my short story, 'Mr. Miller.' I am over the hill with excitement. The submission call was for 'feel good' stories. Jess Federle, of my 'Lima' group, had told me about the contest, for which she thought Mr Miller … Continue reading The Val Wood Prize

You Don’t Have to Win

This Kurt Vonnegut quote just grabbed me this morning. I've felt so frustrated this past week. The overthrow of the government in Peru, the attacks on our democracy by a sitting president in the US. And I've been struggling with outlining the plot for my next book. My hero suffers from a need to do … Continue reading You Don’t Have to Win

Kaleidoscope Rocks the Literary World!

Dina Towbin wrote this great piece about the writers reading event in Lima this month. I got to read one of my short stories again. It was fun! Now that Covid has forced us to go virtual, our annual event has become very international, allowing many more of us to participate. Nevertheless, I know we … Continue reading Kaleidoscope Rocks the Literary World!

Autumn Birthday

This is my entry for the Official Kidlit #FallWritingFrenzy! Writers choose a picture from 15 different images and write a 200-word story using the picture as inspiration. Autumn Birthday Autumn is for homecoming, she’d said on the phone. Driving up the highway, I thought the foliage that year was the most beautiful ever. But my heart … Continue reading Autumn Birthday

Southern Writer from New England

I feel confused over my obsession with southern writers. Sometimes I can’t figure out if my story is about characters from my New England upbringing or about folks from the South. Both places offer a rich opportunity to write about strange people with peculiar accents. Both have a relationship with certain types of food. But … Continue reading Southern Writer from New England

My Island Life

A Hundred Years Ago - or so it seems, although by the date on the front page, I see that it was actually 27 years past - I wrote this article about what was then my life. Sometimes I think I really miss that life. Well, maybe not that life, but certain parts of it. … Continue reading My Island Life

My Town

This photo article was published a while back. It was a fun research project walking around my neighborhood taking photos of amazing old houses. ABOVE - THE CUPOLA. The iconic image of the district of Magdalena del Mar will soon disappear. Well perhaps not totally disappear, but certainly from my vantage point a few blocks away and … Continue reading My Town

Southern Accents

"And try not to sound so damned yankee!" Not the typical advice from a law professor perhaps, but she hadn’t asked for advice on interpreting some obscure community property ruling. Her need on this sweltering Mississippi afternoon was for advice on how to talk to the judge who would rule on her punishment for the … Continue reading Southern Accents

Writers’ Solitude

Have you ever had the opportunity to experience total solitude for a week? Time to focus on your writing and exist in a world where it's not even necessary to block the rest of the world out because for that chunk of time, the rest of the world doesn't exist in your life? I had this experience for the first time recently when I attended a retreat at the Ricardo Palma House...